Habitat for Humanity Home

This semester, I had the privilege of designing a whole house for the Palouse Habitat for Humanity with one of my fellow classmates. I learned so much from this experience. It was very different having to not only create the interior walls, but also the exterior shape of the home. We also had to create a roof for the house, which was a very different experience. You not only have to figure out what will look good, but also keep in mind how the water will flow off the roof. I really enjoyed working with Palouse Habitat for Humanity. This project was the first time we were able to speak with an actual client and design a structure based on their requests, needs, and requirements. The house my teammate and I ended up designing was very open, but also allowed for private space. The color scheme reflects the surrounding natural area with warm and neutral colors. The materials are environmentally friendly yet affordable.

Art Deco

For one of our current projects, we are doing an adaptive re-use of a 1920s-30s Train Depot in down town Pullman. For this poster, I was to research a popular design style during this time. I chose Art Deco, which is one of my favorite design styles of the 1920s and 30s. I love how with the different design elements, you get a sense of greatness, accomplishment, and exploration. I will definitely be using this design style in some of my future designs; however, after doing the research, I found that I will not incorporate this into my Depot design.

La Primavera Bathroom

I really enjoyed designing this bathroom. I actually submitted this design to the Daltile student competition. My inspiration piece was the painting "La Primavera" by Sandro Botticelli. This is personally one of my favorite paintings, so I had a lot of fun ideas. I tried to use very earthy or earth inspired colors like green, brown, and yellow to reflect the concept of being in a garden. I enjoyed playing with different tile combinations. This is actually part of a larger project I am working on, so the bathroom needed to be wheelchair accessible. To make it accessible, I added features like a roll-in shower, a separate water closet with grab-bars, and a sink that can be rolled up to. This was definitely a learning experience, but I enjoyed every part of it.

Gregory Kitchen Design

Designing this kitchen was a very different experience for me. I did not realize just how many details go into designing a kitchen. My inspiration piece was a few lines from the song "Arms" by Christina Perri. In the client brief, the family wanted a Palouse inspired color scheme (basically natural colors). I used different greens, yellows, and lighter browns to create a nature look. I also used granite counter tops. All of the appliances chosen are energy star. The counter height is lowered and certain appliance styles were chosen so that the entire kitchen is wheelchair accessible.

Seattle Trip

 I absolutely enjoyed our field trip to Seattle. We visited several product showrooms including Daltile, Sherwin Williams, Robert Allen, and Chown Hardware just to name a few. One of our days we had the privilege of job shadowing at different firms. I was placed at Collins Woerman. This firm does a lot of medical designs like hospitals and clinics; however, they also do other projects like convention centers and college dormitories. I was first given a little tour of the office, then I sat down with some of the different employees ranging from interior designers to architects who told me about their background and how they got to Collins Woerman. Later in the day I was taken through the design process of a current project. It was so interesting to see that some of the steps they take there are things I do in my studio class. One of the last things I did was talk to a former WSU student who worked for the firm. I learned so much and she gave me great advice. On the last day of our field trip, we visited St. Ignatius Chapel in Seattle. This Chapel was very unique with organic shapes and features. Overall this field trip opened my eyes to the variety of possibilities you can do with an interior design degree.
Here are some sketches from the Chapel:

Habitat for Humanity

Habitat for Humanity was such an amazing experience. It was very interesting to see the building process of a house. I had a lot of random jobs. I helped fix window trim, cut siding, and helped put up a belly board above the garage. It also felt good to be able to help a family in need. I personally got to work with the one of the owners. She was very glad we were able to come and help. I will never forget this amazing experience.

Psychology of Home

In this poster, Psychology of Home is defined as employing an understanding of the way human senses respond to specific design details. To further this definition, consider this this quote by Dak Kopec, "The concept of home is an evolving psychological notion based on people's cultures, traditions, and personalities. For my case study, I focused on adapting the environment to different stages of child development. "Younger adults gravitate toward more ornate dwelling styles while older adults prefer plain ones; this may be because younger people tend to have the energy to perform routine maintenance, whereas older people find such maintenance to be exhausting and a possible source of injury." The example I used was a bedroom designed by 3DBrick for a set of brothers: one age 9 and the other age 5. The older boy wanted blues while the younger boy wanted red. The space was large enough to hold both boys. The solution: divide the room in have (a bed on each end) and give the boys the colors they wanted. To harmonize the two sides, orange was added in. Each side of the room was age appropriate. I took away from this project a deeper understanding on how a space should reflect, be adapted, and feel to a person. This poster was created in my Washington State University Interior Design Sophomore Studio Fall 2011.